awyatybw
Well-Known Member
Good afternoon,
I had been contemplating posting the details of my proposed new electrical layout and switching for my Victoria 34 for some time. The recent posts on paralleling, cabling etc. have prompted me to do so at last.
The following diagram is a simplified version showing just the main points. The system also incorporates a smart alternator regulator (a rather old Sterling one) sensed from the domestic bank, and a digital battery monitor.
I plan to make this diagram available somewhere close to the main switch panel, along with the following legend.
The three isolator switches are all of the removable-key kind and, under normal operation, there will be no key in the "Parallel" switch.
Before coming up with this plan I read up on the subject all over the place, in both published works and stuff available on the web (including this forum, may the gods help me). My main conclusion is that there are about as many ways of doing this kind of thing as there are boats. Just about everybody's "standard" or "best practice" plan is different. I settled on the arrangement above after considering how we sail, what the particular failure cases are that I am most concerned with, and having something that is actually pretty simple with short wiring runs etc.
I would appreciate any practical criticism of this plan before I spend a week in freezing February putting it into effect.
Solar Top-up
For various reasons, it looks like I will end up with Trojan deep cycle batteries for the domestic bank. Two 130AHr jobs. Something cheaper would have been my first choice but I have been unable to find anything else suitable (with the required/desired capacity) that will fit in the battery box (BCI group size 30H/31). I would be pleased to hear other suggestions.
The main trouble with the selected batteries is their high self-discharge rate (13%/month) which, when coupled with the unfortunate fact that the boat often gets left unattended for extended periods, means that I really need some sort of trickle-charge to keep the expensive beasts up to scratch. Solar power seems the obvious choice but it is essential that it is well regulated, including temperature compensation. I could go for a cheap and simple regulator, like the Morningstar Sunguard which has a constant-voltage (14.1V) PWM characteristic but I am concerned that the rate of water use may be too high at this voltage. The more expensive Morningstar ProStar 15 supports separate regulation (14.4V) and float (13.7V) set-points (and even has an equalization cycle) and was much more favoured by the very helpful support person at Morningstar but it seems rather over the top.
I have concluded that a 20Wp solar panel, assuming 10-20% of summer efficiency during the U.K. winter should be sufficient (the batteries have a recharge efficiency 89%) but a recent post here suggest that solar was pretty much useless during UK winter months.
I would appreciate any practical experience that others may be willing to share about this topic.
Alan.
I had been contemplating posting the details of my proposed new electrical layout and switching for my Victoria 34 for some time. The recent posts on paralleling, cabling etc. have prompted me to do so at last.
The following diagram is a simplified version showing just the main points. The system also incorporates a smart alternator regulator (a rather old Sterling one) sensed from the domestic bank, and a digital battery monitor.
I plan to make this diagram available somewhere close to the main switch panel, along with the following legend.
The three isolator switches are all of the removable-key kind and, under normal operation, there will be no key in the "Parallel" switch.
Before coming up with this plan I read up on the subject all over the place, in both published works and stuff available on the web (including this forum, may the gods help me). My main conclusion is that there are about as many ways of doing this kind of thing as there are boats. Just about everybody's "standard" or "best practice" plan is different. I settled on the arrangement above after considering how we sail, what the particular failure cases are that I am most concerned with, and having something that is actually pretty simple with short wiring runs etc.
I would appreciate any practical criticism of this plan before I spend a week in freezing February putting it into effect.
Solar Top-up
For various reasons, it looks like I will end up with Trojan deep cycle batteries for the domestic bank. Two 130AHr jobs. Something cheaper would have been my first choice but I have been unable to find anything else suitable (with the required/desired capacity) that will fit in the battery box (BCI group size 30H/31). I would be pleased to hear other suggestions.
The main trouble with the selected batteries is their high self-discharge rate (13%/month) which, when coupled with the unfortunate fact that the boat often gets left unattended for extended periods, means that I really need some sort of trickle-charge to keep the expensive beasts up to scratch. Solar power seems the obvious choice but it is essential that it is well regulated, including temperature compensation. I could go for a cheap and simple regulator, like the Morningstar Sunguard which has a constant-voltage (14.1V) PWM characteristic but I am concerned that the rate of water use may be too high at this voltage. The more expensive Morningstar ProStar 15 supports separate regulation (14.4V) and float (13.7V) set-points (and even has an equalization cycle) and was much more favoured by the very helpful support person at Morningstar but it seems rather over the top.
I have concluded that a 20Wp solar panel, assuming 10-20% of summer efficiency during the U.K. winter should be sufficient (the batteries have a recharge efficiency 89%) but a recent post here suggest that solar was pretty much useless during UK winter months.
I would appreciate any practical experience that others may be willing to share about this topic.
Alan.
